Welcome to Cultivative’s weekly roundup for all things PPC from around the web—everything you need to know right now about PPC!
At Cultivative, we’re all about making your life easier. We’ve gathered the top PPC news and innovations from around the web and getting it into your hands. Check out what we found this past week.
How To Capitalize On Changes in Consumer Behavior In 2021
By Erik Stafford | Jan 22, 2021

The past year has seen consumers spending more time online – e-commerce’s upward trend has accelerated due to social distancing and canceled in-person events. Right now is the time for agencies, businesses, and entrepreneurs to take advantage of the shift to digital shopping based on consumer’s online behaviors. Erik Stafford recommends capitalizing on consumer behavior by:
- Stopping the scroll
- Frequently refreshing creative
- Split-testing
Google’s alternative to third-party cookies open for advertiser testing in Q2 2021
By Carolyn Lyden | Jan 25, 2021

Google announced that it will make Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), it’s alternative to third-party cookies, available for public testing in Q2 2021. “The FLoC model by Google claims to protect the privacy of the individual but still allows advertisers to see data from the collective. This change could be an adjustment for advertisers who rely heavily on Google Ads for revenue,” writes Carolyn Lyden. User testing will allow advertisers to provide Google with feedback on their experiences with the model, including attribution, ad fraud prevention, and anti-fingerprinting.
Increase products & services engagement with Filter Link Extensions
By Crystal Zheng, Eugene Goldenshteyn | Jan 26, 2021

Ad extensions enhance your text ads’ visibility and relevance to increase performance and improve your ROI. Microsoft Advertising has recently added Filter Link Extensions to its ad extensions family. Advertisers can now present many different features under categorized headers so that users can quickly navigate to their key products and offerings. Key details about Filter Link Extensions include:
- They’re available in all Microsoft Advertising markets, on both PC and mobile devices.
- Advertisers across many verticals can leverage up to 36 pre-defined headers in all Microsoft Advertising supported languages.
- Filter Link Extensions can be shown with other ad extensions, including sitelinks.
- Clicks on Filter Link Extensions will be charged the same cost-per-click (CPC) as clicks on the ad headline.
- Filter Link Extensions can be created via Microsoft Advertising online only.
- Filter Link Extensions are reported at the header level, not at an individual value level.
How to Use Video Ads to Build Consumer Trust in Your eCommerce Company
By Victor Blasco | Jan 26, 2021

Customer trust is a key element that allows you to build a solid online reputation, attract prospects, and nurture them into loyal customers when you have an eCommerce business. Victor Blasco asserts this can consistently be done through video content on social media. Three key traits to build trust with your customers in your video ads on social media include:
- Display competence through video production quality & professional finish
- Show expertise through explainer videos that address relevant topics
- Humanize your brand with company story videos & testimonials
Why You Need To Be Using Google Ads Bid Automation
By Matt Umbro | Jan 27, 2021

There is no doubt that bid automation is one of the most important topics discussed in the digital marketing industry. It is not the issue of whether you should automate or not; rather, you are using automation to accomplish your goals and amplify your efforts to grow. A major concern with automated bidding is that it takes control away from advertisers. The better approach is to understand the multiple benefits automated bidding has compared to manual bidding and how advertisers can guide the system.
What should brands’ post-COVID Amazon strategy be?
By Hannah Abbasi | Jan 27, 2021

Amazon became a retail cornerstone in 2020, and many brands became overly dependent on it. Consumer habits created during the pandemic remain, so it is vital to know how to maximize Amazon’s potential rather than trying to fit products and brands into Amazon. Amazon has evolved into an experience platform in its own right, and the leading brands will treat it as such. Hannah Abbasi recommends, “Supplement what you know by maximizing your data – be that transactional, reviews, employee feedback – so you have a bank of behavioral insights. From there, deploy the three-step approach to keeping the customers you hook in with content, advertisement and fulfillment. That being, take advantage of Amazon’s Brand Registry program.”
Facebook Ads Analytics: How to Stop Wasting Money
By Tara Zilker | Jan 27, 2021

If you know you’ve been wasting money on your Facebook ads and wondering which metrics are best to help you analyze your ad performance, Tara Zilker helps clear up some confusion. To get more control over the success of your ads, Zilker reviews three key metrics: CTR (link click-through rate), CPM, and landing page conversion rate. If your stats don’t meet the benchmark performance rates, you’ll need to look more closely at your ad copy, imagery, landing page, and messaging and do some testing.
We hope you learned something new you can apply to your PPC business strategy. Let us know in the comments below what you want to start implementing. As always, we are happy to be a resource for your paid advertising needs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
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